The Big Day

Hello world! Eric Zhao signing in for live updates from this year's Relay For Life with the College of Pharmacy's Pill Pushers. Yes, I found the elusive wifi and power outlet at this event. Below will be a recollection from my point of view (most recent at the top). Enjoy!

PS Come pay us a visit. We are by the Tennis Courts and MoJo.

Final Edit: Changing "LIVE UPDATES" to chronological order for folks just tuning in.

======LIVE UPDATES =====
=====(Reformatted Chronologically)=====

10:00am Set-up and Celebration
No words, just photos and captions.

Setting up shop. Liz Kelly, I'm happy to be here too!


Star Spangled Banner with Air Force ROTC

Releasing Balloons for Hope

10:30am Inaugaral Lap

Opening lap for survivors.


Tess Lin rockin the PDC flag

10:58am The Penitentiary
Ha! Put Matt Wolf and his son, Brady Wolf, in jail. Jail Rules: Someone bids an amount to send you to jail and the prisoner must raise a matching amount by begging nearby Relayers. How humiliating.

11:17am Child Exploitation
Again, we use Brady Wolf to raise money for RFL. Child exploitation? Maybe. Shameless? Also maybe.

Milking him for every dollar

11:23am MRun
You know who's crazy? MRun. They are trying to run 2,000 laps around Palmer. Tess followed suit by running two laps. Good work--only 1,998 to go!

They claim the board will be full at the end of the day. HA! Good one, MRun.

12:12pm Young Gunners in Jail
These kids were a hoot. They couldn't care less that they were in jail, as long as they got 'Likes' for their Facebook page. Go figure.

"Do it for the kids!" they kept shouting, but no one did.
Honorable mention: FunKtion dance member dances for change.


Put in for sleeping in. This is what you get.

12:49pm LUNCHTIME
Relay always delivers when it comes to lunch. And by deliver, I mean Olive Garden, Jimmy Johns, and Buffalo Wild Wings. Yup, get jealous. Also, Dominick has fired up the grill and we are eating great over here. Get jealous again.

Jimmy Johns


Olive Garden and such


Dominick's Deli

12:54pm MRun Board Update
How's MRun doing on their 2000 lap goal? Let's find out.

130 laps so far...and pie.

2:01pm Volleyball
Pill Pushers (Frank Bertone, Corey Edge, Rachel Lebovic, and I) are ready to dominate. brb.
2:30pm: Dominated the first game. Frank Bertone with the game-winning spike.
3:30pm: Lost second game. Oh well.

Practice? You want to talk about practice??

2:45pm Benjamin Franklin
Holy two-headed goats Batman! Someone just donated $100 to put two people in jail for $50 each.

All about the Benjamins

3:46pm Friendly Fire
Betrayal! Help stop P3-on-P3 violence!

Fellow students Amanda Li (+Gareth) and Christine Rabah under arrest

4:00pm UM Football
Fancy seeing you here, Denard Robinson. It's too bad you declined my invitation to race you in a 40-yard dash. I would've taken it easy on you.

Denard Robinson


Devin Gardner throwing a pass

5:00pm Dodgeball
No pics because I was too busy dodging, dipping, ducking, diving, and dodging. We won our first game then got smoked by MRun. Athletes vs Scientists. Just sayin'.

5:51pm Dinnertime
Taking a short break to make a burger and play some Euchre. Don't bother us.

Euchre


Hamburger

6:38pm Cornhole
Goofy name for a great game.

Jessica Fong, Kaleena Johnson, Mary Koors, and I enjoy Cornholing

7:05pm Fundraising and 24-hour club update
24-Hour Club (so far): Dominick Rutherford, Rachel Lebovic, and.........me.
Jail Fundraiser Total (so far): $1,123.53

Counting change. All about the Washingtons, baby.

7:34pm P4 Cameo's

Ngoc Vu, Maho Habino, and Gio Lares stop by

7:54pm The Incredibles
Five of us = Five Incredibles. Too good to pass up.

Blurry Pic of Gio, me, Helen, Ngoc, and Maho. Let's focus shall we? See next pic.


Aren't we adorable?

Random MRun Update:

821 Laps. Almost to 2,011 laps...right.

8:35pm Go Michigan Hockey

Streaming the game at our site.
Technology these days...

9:04pm Luminaria Ceremony and Silent Lap
Didn't snap as many pics as I had wanted to because it was very dusty and my eyes were tearing up because of the dust. Also, someone was chopping onions nearby. This heartwarming ceremony shows us the direct impact of Relay for Life.

Reasons why we Relay

10:30pm Aaaaaand We're Back
AFK for a bit because of the Ceremonies, but we're back now. Before I forget, I would like to showcase what Jaclyn O'Connor created for our team:

A beautiful Ribbon display

11:19PM YOU CAN'T JAIL THE SHERIFF
SOMEHOW, SOMEWAY, DOMINICK, DENNIS, AND I WERE THROWN IN JAIL. THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN BECAUSE WE ARE THE SHERIFFS. CAPS LOCK MEANS I'M YELLING AND NOT HAPPY.

YOU CAN TELL IT'S US BECAUSE OF OUR GLOWSTICKS AND AGGRESSIVE DEMEANOR

11:27pm Creativity
The Michigan Difference at work. Making a human pyramid to raise funds in jail.

EDIT: Adina Feng put both Dennis and me in jail. Jordan Smith put Dominick in jail for $36. Once Dennis got out, he dropped $20 to bail Dominick out. Got to help a brother out.

Prisoner Pyramid

11:48pm Nightshot of Relay

Foggy and Serene

12:52am Jail Fundraiser Update
Unofficial count: $1,800+

1:12am Good Night
Good night world. Taking a quick nap.

~3:00am "Good Morning!!!!"
Erin Gulbransen jumps on me asking why I am sleeping. I am not amused.

7:33am Good Morning for Real & Site Take-down
The dew forms on the Air Mattress and begins to soak through my sleeping bag. Perhaps now is a good time to get up and help undo the campsite.

Dominick Rutherford and Bernie Marini bulldozing

The jail in its fetal form

8:58am Random MRun Update
Remember when MRun decided to ambitiously run 2,011 laps around Palmer? Let's see how they are doing.

Still running at the break of dawn


Success! Notice the line at 2,000 laps (500 miles).
Also notice the tiny note at the top of the board.
It says, "Random Guy in UofM Hockey Jersey"


It's our very own, Jordan Smith, 24-hours later!
[Click photo to Zoom]

9:45am Closing Ceremony

Deserting a once bustling society


The Relay For Life Captains speak

10:00am Final Remarks
We did it!
The Jail Fundraiser Total: $2015.41
Pill Pushers Total: ~$13,500 (3rd in the University of Michigan)
UM Relay Total: $321,000 <-- this is unheard of and a new UM record ($267,000 last year; +$50,000 in one year! Go blue!)
24-hour Club Members: Rachel Lebovic, Dominick Rutherford, and Eric Zhao

Newly Initiated Members of the College of Pharmacy 24-Hour Club
Dominick Rutherford, Rachel Lebovic, and Eric Zhao

Thanks to the RFL Planning Committee for their hard work. This wouldn't have happened without them:

PDC: Rachel Lebovic, Dominick Rutherford, Liz Kelly, Kristen Tedders, Eric Zhao
ISPOR: Tony Lin, Krystal Sheerer
PSGC: Jordan Smith, Bernie Marini
HSP: Erin Gulbransen, Jessica Fong
SNPhA: Jessica Chen, Tanvi Khanpara
APhA: Matt Lewis, Jackie O'Connor

Also, huge thanks to everyone who signed up to walk, fundraise, help out, set-up shop, take-down camp, arrest, cook, and pie-in-the-face.

Now, I am "le tired", so I am going to "have a nap". Eric Zhao, signing out.

PS Erin, I have your Blackberry, but if you wake me up again, I'll make you wish you hadn't.

Relay is Tomorrow: Wowza!!

I just happened to be checking up on our progress, and I was taken aback: we have currently raised $11,121.57, which is 74% of our goal! This is unbelievable! Then I went to the University of Michigan Relay for Life Home Page to see where we stand amongst the top teams, and we're currently in 3rd place out of 182 registered teams! Wowza! Can you believe this? Because I'm really impressed with everyone that has worked so hard for the Pill Pushers to get this far. We still have all of today and the entire Saturday of Relay for Life to raise money, so don't stop yet!

Penny Wars

This event concluded last Friday with a winner being announced. For 2 weeks, individuals could put money into jars for the P1, P2, and P3 class. Coins counted as positive points (quarter = +25 points) and bills counted as negative points (dollar = -100 points). And these were the results!

1. First Place - P3s with positive $50.40
2. Second Place - P1s with positive $8.15
3. Last Place - P2s with negative $25.95

Geesh, people were really out to get the class of 2013, or MACE as only they like to refer to themselves (I've heard this acronym stands for Most Awesome Class Ever, but they don't seem to have the right qualifications...). The P2 jar did raise the most money however, $96.05, they just had too many dolla dolla bills in there. Better luck next year!

All together, Pill Pushers raised a total of $244.60. Awesome!

Euchre Tournament

If you don't know what this card game is, then get on the ball! It is your Michigan duty to learn. While at first glance, the rules may seem confusing, anyone can learn! Case in point: last semester, P2 Tina Gallagher played in a tournament for the first time with long-time euchre enthusiast, P3 Brian Meredith. And they won!

This time around, Tina and Brian matched up again as partners for this tournament with all money going towards the Pill Pushers. I think it's safe to say that this pair is unstoppable, because they ended the tournament as Euchre Champions. This is a fairy tale story for anyone who has never played before, it's not too late to learn! Just don't play your cards with the undefeated Tina, it probably won't fare well for you.

The Euchre Tournament drew in 9 different teams and made a total of $90 towards Relay!

Fundraiser at Blue Leprechaun

Last night was the final event leading up to the big day. Everyone took a break from their studying schedules for one night to support the downfall of cancer at the pharmacy hot spot: The Blue Leprechaun.

P3 students Rachel Joseph and Margo Cooklin were so excited about the fight against cancer, they decided to dress up like twinsies! With the help of them and everyone else, we were able to raise $294 in a single night.

College of Pharmacy Spirit Week

In order to raise more awareness for Relay for Life at the end of the week, PSGC hosted a Spirit Week for students to take apart in. Brings back old memories of high school... *tear*

• Monday: Twin Day
• Tuesday: Crazy hat, hair, or hat-hair day
• Wednesday: Pajama Day
• Thursday: 80s Day
• Friday: Cancer Color Day... sport Relay gear or Cancer gear

P3's Nina Cimino, Rachel Joseph, Gabrielle Gibson, Connie Cheng, Catharina Cramer, and Erin Gulbransen are sextuplets for a day! And professional ones at that!

P3's and PSGC reps Jordan Smith, Ben Blowers, and Bernie Marini do a couple lunges in their jorts. We have such athletes in our school. Everyone was getting in the spirit for twin day!

Walking Shifts and Jail Shifts

Don't forget to sign up to either walk for an hour (or more) or act as sheriff of the jail for an hour (or more), which is a ton of fun! You get to have a megaphone!

P2's Arnie Andreason acting as sheriff carting around Olga Kishek from last years Relay for Life.

Top 5 Fund Raisers!

With everything wrapping up, here are our top 5 fund raisers for the Pill Pushers:

1. Tim Hinkley - $755
2. Nicki Baker - $420
3. Bernie Marini - $360
4. Maho Hibino - $350
5. Tess Lin - $323.35

Thank you to everyone for fundraising and a special shout out to our Super Star Tim Hinkley for the extraordinary amount of money he collected! Can you believe it? It's amazing to see how people can come together for a common goal: seeing an end to cancer!!